Natalie Wood

In November 2011, homicide detectives re-opened their investigation in the death of actress Natalie Wood nearly 30 years after the actress drowned in the waters off Southern California in one of Hollywood's most enduring mysteries.

Los Angeles Sheriff's Dept. homicide detectives aboard the Splendour on their first trip to Hawaii in December 2011, to re-investigate the death of actress Natalie Wood. Ron Nelson, the boat's current owner, is seen to the left, wearing white. Detectives made a second trip in July 2012.

Dennis Davern, in yellow, former captain of the Splendour, with Los Angeles County Sheriff's Dept. homicide detectives in Honolulu, Hawaii. Ron Nelson, the boat's current owner, is seen in the blue Hawaiian shirt.

Authorities amended actress Natalie Wood's death certificate on Aug. 1, 2012, to reflect some of the lingering questions about how the actress died in the waters off Catalina Island in November 1981. The changes include altering her cause of death to "Drowning and other undetermined factors" and adding the statement "Circumstances not clearly established" to how Wood ended up in the water while on a yacht with husband Robert Wagner and actor and co-star Christopher Walken.

Actor Edmund Gwenn as Kris Kringle greets actress Natalie Wood in a scene from the 1947 Christmas classic, "Miracle on 34th Street." Wood got her first role at the age of 4 in a movie called "Happy Land" (1943). By 1946, at age 8, she was making $1,000 a week.

Actress Jane Wyatt fixes the hair ribbon for actress Natalie Wood in Hollywood, Calif., on Oct. 26, 1949. Wood continued playing roles of young girls until the age of 17, where she landed the role of Judy in the film "Rebel Without a Cause" (1955), opposite James Dean and Sal Mineo.

Actress Natalie Wood pictured in 1955. In 1950, Wood was the queen of fan magazines and the second biggest actress next to Elizabeth Taylor. During her career, Wood made 56 films for TV and the big screen, among them "West Side Story" (1961) in which she played Maria.

After spending years on the trail of an Indian party that kidnapped his young niece, Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) finally comes upon Debbie, now 15 (played by Natalie Wood) in the John Ford classic "The Searchers" (1956), which also starred Jeffrey Hunter.

Actor Paul Newman and actress Natalie Wood pose with their statuettes at the 23rd Golden Globe Awards dinner in Hollywood, Calif., Feb. 1, 1966. Wood received the World Film Favorite Female award and Newman was honored with the World Film Favorite Male award.

Natalie Wood and husband Robert Wagner are made up for their roles in "All The Fine Young Cannibals," in Los Angeles on Nov. 25, 1959. Dennis Davern, captain of the yacht Splendour, which Wood was aboard at the time of her death, said on national TV Friday, Nov. 18, 2011, that he lied to investigators about Natalie Wood's mysterious death in 1981 and blames the actress' husband at the time, Robert Wagner, for her drowning in the ocean off Southern California.

In "Sex and the Single Girl" (1964), inspired by the advice book for young women by Helen Gurley Brown, Woods played psychologist "Helen Brown," who becomes the target of a tabloid reporter (Tony Curtis) seeking an expose.

Natalie Wood received a third Oscar nomination for her starring role in "Love With the Proper Stranger" (1963), in which she played a salesgirl who becomes pregnant from a brief affair with a musician (played by Steve McQueen).

Actors Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood pose at the Dorchester Hotel in London, England, April 23, 1972. The couple first married in 1957 and divorced in 1962. They remarried in 1972 on their yacht "Splendour" and were together until Wood's untimely death after falling off their yacht in 1981. They had one daughter together, and each had a daughter from previous marriages.

American writer Tennessee Williams, left, actress Natalie Wood, center, and actor Robert Wagner pose for photographers at the Cannes film festival in May 1976. Wood and Wagner starred in a television remake of Williams's "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof."

Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood are shown arriving for the 50th Annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles, April 3, 1978. Wood and Wagner, star of the TV series "Hart to Hart," were twice married, first in 1957 before divorcing six years later. They remarried in 1972.

Actress Natalie Wood is seen on Jan. 17, 1979. Wood, a three-time Oscar nominee famous for roles in "West Side Story," "Rebel Without a Cause" and other Hollywood hits, was 43 when she died on Nov. 29, 1981.

Natalie Wood is shown at the 51st Annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles on April 9, 1979. Los Angeles sheriff's homicide detectives are taking another look at Wood's 1981 drowning death based on new information, officials announced Thursday, Nov. 17, 2011.

The 55-foot yacht "Splendour," belonging to actor Robert Wagner and his wife, actress Natalie Wood, sits in the waters off Catalina Island in Santa Catalina, Calif., near the site where Harbor Patrol personnel and lifeguards discovered the body of Wood, an apparent drowning victim, Nov. 29, 1981. Los Angeles sheriff's homicide detectives are taking another look at Wood's 1981 drowning death based on new information, officials announced Thursday, Nov. 17, 2011.

"Prince Valiant," the inflatable dinghy used by 34-year-old actress Natalie Wood on the yacht Splendour, sits pierside in Catalina Island, Calif., on a Nov. 28, 1981. Yacht captain Dennis Davern said on national TV Friday, Nov. 18, 2011 that he lied to investigators about Natalie Wood's mysterious death 30 years ago and blames the actress' husband at the time, Robert Wagner, for her drowning in the ocean off Southern California. Wagner is not a suspect in his former wife's death.

Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood's yacht, "Splendour." Wood drowned in 1981, after a night of partying with husband Wagner and "Brainstorm" co-star Christopher Walken on the couple's yacht anchored off Santa Catalina Island. Her death was ruled an accident
and it was determined that she had been drinking before her death.

Wood's drowning sparked tabloid speculation that foul play was involved, but Wagner and Wood's sister have dismissed any suggestion there was foul play.

The gravesite of actress Natalie Wood is seen in the Westwood Village Memorial Park. Wood, a three-time Oscar nominee famous for roles in "West Side Story," "Rebel Without a Cause" and other Hollywood hits, was 43 when she died in November 1981.